Rajasthan HC orders inflated tube monitoring through drone at Sambhar Lake after thousands of birds die.

Source – indiatoday.in

The Rajasthan High Court on Friday issued orders directing that arrangements are to be made for inflated tube monitoring through high-density drone in the Sambhar Lake case where thousands of migratory birds have died due to botulism.

The issue of deaths of thousands of migratory birds at the Sambhar Lake came up in the Rajasthan High Court on Friday.

The court also directed the government to ensure that any kind of tragedy is averted at other locations wherever migratory birds arrive. The Rajasthan HC has suggested that private salt factories be shut down in the vicinity of the Sambhar Lake in Jaipur.

The court had taken suo motu cognizance of the matter after thousands of foreign migratory birds died in the Sambhar Lake in Jaipur.

On Thursday, the Ashok Gehlot-led Rajasthan government confirmed botulism was the reason behind the deaths of thousands of foreign migratory birds at the Sambhar Lake in Jaipur.

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot stated that the report from the government laboratory in Bareilly has confirmed that botulism indeed was the reason behind the death of the migratory birds.

“There has been an impact over there of the steps that the government has taken. As per the report given by our institute in Bikaner, the name of the disease is botulism. As per the information that has just arrived from the government laboratory in Bareilly, it is the same disease, botulism, that was the cause of death … the question is that the investigation will continue in the future,” Ashok Gehlot said.

He added, “I have written a letter to Prakash Javadekar as well. We would request that the secretary of the Central government come to Rajasthan. Earlier, scientists had come and taken samples. That is not going to work. Research should happen on this so that this situation does not arise in the future,” Ashok Gehlot said.

More than 15,000 migratory birds are believed to have died at the Sambhar Lake in Jaipur. Several species of migratory birds, during winters every year, make the late their natural habitat. However, this year, it became the graveyard for several of them who had arrived from thousands of kilometres away.